Kohuth, in the minority among his peers, can't wait to visit the
Monster Mile or the similarly surfaced Nashville Superspeedway. Success,
after all, is a great motivator.

The 41-year-old Kohuth, a Pennsylvania native, won his first NASCAR Busch
Series, Grand National Division race - with Ken Schrader - at Dover in
1989. That was before the 1-mile superspeedway's asphalt surface
was torn out and replaced with concrete.

When NASCAR Craftsman Trucks debuted in September 2000, Kohuth's
then-driver, Mike Wallace, led 168 laps and was battling Kurt Busch for
the victory before being involved in a Turn 4 accident two laps shy of
the scheduled race distance.

The Ultra team swallowed that disappointment and returned to Dover
International Speedway with a vengeance. Scott Riggs didn't
dominate in Wallace fashion but, with a neat pass of Jack Sprague, scored
his second victory of the year. Riggs and Kohuth weren't done. In
August, the pair ran the table at Nashville where Riggs led the final 48
laps at the 1.5-mile venue.

Obviously, the No. 2 Team ASE Racing/Carquest Dodge has to rate an at
least even-money favorite when the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series returns
to Dover for Friday's MBNA America 200 (ESPN, 3:30 p.m. EDT). Riggs
has graduated to the NASCAR Busch Series - where he backed up his
Nashville victory in April - but having a third different driver in as
many seasons shouldn't hurt Ultra's chances.

Jason Leffler, after all, is on a bit of a roll, having finished second
in successive races at Gateway International Raceway and Pikes Peak
International Raceway. Leffler, who has competed at Dover in both NASCAR
Winston Cup Series and NASCAR Busch Series cars, is no stranger to the
track's quirks.

"I watched the NASCAR Craftsman Truck race at Dover in person last
year, so I know how good the truck ran," said Leffler, winner of
series Bud Poles in 2002 at Darlington Raceway and Pikes Peak."I
like Dover because it's fast and you're really hauling the
mail down into those big, banked corners.

"There are two grooves so it makes for some good, side-by-side
racing. It's definitely going to be exciting."

Dover also provides the opportunity for Ultra, Leffler and Kohuth to
build on something of a comeback. Riggs, who led the championship through
much of 2001, fell to fifth following a 32nd-place finish in the season
finale. This year didn't start much better: an 11th-place finish at
Daytona and 30th at Darlington, the latter run sabotaged by a broken oil
line as Leffler ran a close third with the checkered flag in sight.

Leffler, however, has rebounded from 17th to fourth in points, thanks to
a trio of top-six efforts. He's a slim, 31 points behind leader
Mike Bliss.

Kohuth would seem the essential ingredient - especially at Dover.

"I like racing on concrete, although some people hate it,"
said the crew chief."It's just a neat place because the
track doesn't change. It stays the same.

"If you take the variable of the track changing out of the
equation, it makes it a little more fun. It's one less thank that I
don't have to worry about."

Having the right driver, also, has taken another crucial variable out of
the equation. Schrader excelled at Dover, winning in both NASCAR Winston
Cup and NASCAR Busch cars. Wallace loves concrete. Riggs' record
over the past 12 months - he also scored a top-10 finish in this
spring's race at Bristol Motor Speedway - suggests a similar
affinity for the surface.

That would leave Kohuth, a perfectionist with nine victories on the
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, to work some mechanical magic. Bottom
line: there isn't anything for Kohuth to dislike about Dover.

"On my end, a lot of it is if you like where you're
going... the mindset seems to make everything run that much smoother.
I'm very familiar with Dover, just because it seems like I've
raced there forever from my days in NASCAR Winston Cup and the NASCAR
Busch Series," Kohuth said."Dover is a cool race
track."